Astrophysics Anyone?
by SaffronAngel
Summary: Our favorite Time Lord and his companion pay a visit to Colorado Springs. They meet up with our favorite SG team.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I own neither Dr. Who or Stargate SG-1. I can wish though.

SUMMARY: Since I didn't want to see Christopher Eccleston end his stint as the Doctor, I've adjusted a few things for my own story. After POTW, the Doctor didn't regenerate because, with him being a Time Lord, he could handle the Vortex for the short time he had it inside of him. Of course, as will be revealed later on, Rose did suffer some repercussions.

* * *

The Doctor was frantic. Rose had been swept away from him while they had been walking down a busy street. A large group of enthusiastic men had come running down the street and swept Rose up.

He had chased after them for a few blocks before he ran out of breath. He was still, after all, recovering from the last time they had gotten into trouble. He had suffered a couple of cracked ribs and, while he could have healed himself inside the med bay on the TARDIS, he didn't want Rose knowing just how badly he'd been hurt.

"Are you alright?" came the voice from behind him.

"Will be. I need to find my companion. She's —" He paused for a moment and fished out the picture he'd nicked from her mother's flat the last time they'd been there. "This is her."

The first thing Daniel Jackson noticed about the man in front of him was the accent and the fact that he was hurt. Then he actually looked at the picture in front of him. "She's cute."

"Yeah. She got swept off by —"

"The Academy football team. They just won their homecoming game. Probably on their way to O'Malleys. That's where they usually go to celebrate. I'm on my way there to meet a friend. Why don't you come with me and we'll see if she's there."

The Doctor nodded. His ribs were killing him. He just wanted to find Rose and get back to the TARDIS.

* * *

Rose had finally fought free of the crowd. Of course, several of the guys tried to get her to go into the bar with them. She just said no thanks. She needed to find the Doctor.

She looked around to find that she had no idea where she was and no clue as to how to find the Doctor again, let alone the TARDIS. To top everything off, the Doctor had her cell phone and she had no way to call him because she had no money for the pay phone.

She sat down on the bench that she saw in front of the bar, berating herself for not having any cash on her, for not managing to get swept off by a crowd of men.

That was where Sam Carter found her just a moment later. Sam and Daniel were supposed to meet at O'Malley's for an early dinner that day and then join Teal'c for a movie at Sam's. Unfortunately, they all forgot about the Air Force Academy homecoming game.

Thankfully, Sam was safe from the enthusiasm of the team and fans. She had had to put several of the cadets in their place once and that was all it took for her to gain a reputation for not putting up with any bullshit.

"Are you okay?" she asked the young woman on the bench.

"Just a dunce me. Left my cell phone with my mate and I have no cash in order to call him and let him know where I am."

"You're British." Sam shook her head. "Forgive me. I had to take a moment to process the accent and some of the phrases. I haven't heard anyone talk like you do in a long time." She smiled that megawatt smile that usually made everyone around her smile too.

"Yeah. No problem."

"What's your name?"

"Oy! Rose!" The familiar voice warmed Rose's heart and made her look up with a matching megawatt smile.

Looking both ways before jogging across the street, the Doctor felt his heart soar when he saw that Rose was ok. She was even smiling now. He sat down on the bench next to her. "You alright, love?"

"Now, yeah. Can't believe I left the cell with you and me with no money to call you so that you could find me."

He put his hand over hers. "No worries. I found you. Thanks to this bloke." He stood up. "I'm the Doctor by the way. And you are?"

"Daniel Jackson, archeologist."

When he turned to her, Sam took his hand and shook it. "Samantha Carter, Lt Colonel US Air Force, PhD."

"Really? What field?"

"Astrophysics."

"Fantastic." He turned to Rose and held out his hand. She looked up and smiled at him, that smile that always made him smile. "Shall we head back to the TARDIS?"

"Yeah. I'm a little knackered after that. Bit of a kip ought to set me right."

"Off we go then." The two of them started off and then turned around to Sam and Daniel who stood watching them. "By the by, Grace says she'll see you soon."


	2. Chapter 2

As they walked back to the TARDIS, Rose rejoiced in feeling the Doctor's hand in hers. She felt like this was where she belonged, beside him, hand in hand.

He pulled her close to him and put an arm around her shoulders. "You, Rose Tyler, need to stop being so jeopardy-friendly."

"OY!" She playfully elbowed him in the ribs.

So, it shocked the hell out of her when he went down on one knee and then toppled over, holding his ribs. "Doctor!"

Sam and Daniel heard her shout. They had decided to walk in the park and talk instead of braving the crowds at O'Malley's. They broke into a run.

When they reached Rose, the Doctor was on the ground and Rose was on her knees beside him, crying, but afraid to touch him.

"What happened?" Sam asked as they stopped next to her.

"We were joking around, yeah? I hit him. Not hard though. Not hard."

"Doctor, can you tell me what's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Ribs cracked," he rasped. He couldn't remember pain like this, actual physical pain that is, since the bunker in Utah.

"We need to get him to a hospital."

"You can't!" Rose's declaration startled the two but they nodded.

"My house then. I might be able to help him there."

"What?"

"Dad left me a healing device after the whole Alpha site fiasco. He said it would be a good idea to keep it close and not let anyone know. That way I would have it 'when' I needed it. He seemed to think that I was more than a little jeopardy-friendly."

"You have to admit, Sam. That year saw you in more trouble than the rest of us."

"Help him!" Rose cried. Sam and Daniel broke off their playful banter for the moment and pulled the Doctor to his feet. They started off across the park toward Sam's house, just hoping that no one would stop them.

Meanwhile, Rose was right behind them, hoping that these people really could help her Doctor.

* * *

Daniel helped to lay the Doctor on the bed in Sam's spare room. Then, Sam went and got the healing device her father had left her.

Both Daniel and Rose saw the tears in her eyes. Only Daniel understood the pain that Sam went through every time she mentioned her father, which wasn't as often as it should be.

As Sam began using the device, Rose watched in amazement. "What is that?"

"It's a device we picked up from some friends of ours. It heals people."

"How?"

"We don't really know just yet. But we're trying to figure it out."

About 30 minutes later, Sam's hands fell to her sides. Daniel steered his friend to a chair in the room when he noticed her swaying. "Are you alright, Sam?"

"Just tired now, Daniel. That takes a lot out of a person." She looked up at Rose. "So are you an alien too?"

The look of surprise on Rose's face made Sam smile and dip her head before explaining herself.

"First off, you didn't want him to go to a hospital. That could have been explained one of two ways. Either he's a wanted criminal or an alien. Second, it's kind of hard to miss two heartbeats when using the device."

"I haven't been traveling with him long. Yeah, he's an alien. I'm just a human though." She looked over at him and smiled almost sadly. "Or, as he sometimes says, stupid ape. When he gets frustrated he tends to insult humans as a species."

Her look grew a little distant as she went on. "He's always so worried about me. So protective. He just doesn't understand. I want him safe. My doctor." For a moment, Rose stood there as she looked at the Doctor with a gold tint to her eyes. Suddenly, she looked back at Sam. "We look out for each other, yeah?"

Rose was asleep in the chair beside the bed and the Doctor on the bed when Teal'c knocked at the door. The three friends sat down in the living room to watch a movie, figuring that Sam's guests would be resting quietly for a few hours yet.

They couldn't have been more wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. The characters you recognize belong to other people. I'm just borrowing them for selfish reasons.

SUMMARY: If you haven't seen Father's Day yet, you probably won't understand this chapter. Spoilers ahead.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose found themselves standing in Peter Tyler's flat. But something was different this time. They found themselves experiencing things from each other's perspective. She could feel his disappointment and pain as he spat those words at her. "I've done it again. Picked another stupid ape."

He felt her heartbreak as she heard those words and winced. How he wished he could go back and change what he said to her. Of course, then she flung the most hurtful words at him in return. "You're not the most important man in my life!"

Her heart broke all over again as she watched herself hand over the TARDIS key. Then she realized she was feeling his heart breaking as a result of the careless words she had flung in his face.

She felt herself wince as she told him, "You don't scare me. I know how sad you are. You'll be back in a minute. Or you'll hang around outside the TARDIS waiting for me. And I'll make you wait a long time." She felt like crying as she felt that solitary tear run down his face as he stormed down the street.

She felt the panic rise up in him when the TARDIS wasn't inside the box like it was supposed to be. And it welled up even further as he realized what kind of danger he had left her in. She felt his heart in his throat as he ran for the church to try to save her.

Likewise, he felt the pain inside Rose when she was trying to explain things to her dad without telling him outright what was going on. Her heart was breaking again and it was his fault. Her panic when they almost crashed into the car that was supposed to kill her father. The thought that flashed through her mind at that moment. 'I'll never see the Doctor again.'

He wanted to lash out at both Jackie and Peter when he felt Rose's heart breaking at their argument outside the church. When they walked away from Rose, he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. He heard her thought, 'I saved him for this? Mum always told me what a wonderful man he was. But she talks to him like this? Maybe the Doctor was right and I am just another stupid ape.'

He wanted to scream, "You're not stupid, Rose. You're a lot smarter than a lot of your species. I'm sorry. I never should have said that to you."

He felt her smile when she heard him calling her name. Just as she felt his hearts in her throat as he saw the Reaper above them, about to dive on her. Then he knocked her down and for just a split second they both felt better.

Then they were running again. Always running, these two time travelers. They made it into the church and they were safe for a moment.

He felt her on the verge of tears as he explained the problem and when she asked if it was her fault and he didn't answer, she blinked away several scalding hot tears. The thought ran through her mind again that maybe she was stupid, just as stupid as the Doctor had accused her of being. And definitely as selfish as he had implied.

She felt how much it hurt him to see that car that was supposed to hit her father and know that Peter dying might be the only way to fix this. That's what the other Time Lords would have done. They would have gone to that one point in time and stopped her. Then they would have taken her away from him. Left him alone and wiped her memory of him.

He wanted to comfort her when she started crying when her dad figured out that she was his Rose all grown up. The tears in her eyes broke his hearts. When her father wrapped her in his arms, she cried. Not only for the father she had never known, she cried for the Doctor he realized. Cried because he had lost everything and she still had family, friends, a planet to call home. All he had left was the TARDIS and her. And she wasn't the best companion. 'Not true, Rose. You are the best. The best companion ever,' he thought. He wished he could tell her that.

"I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you can't even imagine. But you two, street corner, two in the morning, getting' a taxi home. I've never had a life like that." She heard the longing in his mind, the desire to have that kind of a life.

A little later when they were talking together at the front of the church, he realized how much he had hurt her when he told her she couldn't touch the baby version of herself. Then she said, "I can't do anything right, can I?" He felt the pain flood through her as he said, "Since you asked, no. So DON"T TOUCH THE BABY."

"I'm not stupid!" she retorted, tears burning her eyes again.

"You could have fooled me!" He could have kicked himself in the arse for the way that made her feel. The tears were almost unbearable. She was beautiful and smart and as fine a companion as he'd ever had.

He felt the small lift in her spirits when he apologized to her and said he wouldn't have left her on her own. Just as she felt how hard it had been to say he was sorry. It had been even harder for him to admit that he didn't have a plan, no way out. But her unwavering faith in him surfaced as she told him, "You'll think of something."

That buoyed his spirits as well when she said that. She was glad she could do that much for him. She knew his spirits dropped when he brought up his people. His people, who would have fixed this she now knew. The same ones that would have taken her away from him and wiped her memories of him the way they had with Zoe and Jamie. It hurt him to think of all the companions he'd lost through the years. So many lost. To lose her too would hurt but more than the others. She was special to him. She could see that now.

"Just tell me you're sorry."

"I am. I'm sorry." And the hurtful words were forgiven, just like that. The tears in her eyes as he touched her cheek and smiled at her were enough. Then he wrapped her in his arms again and she felt safe and protected. She felt like they could do anything as long as they stood together.

As the TARDIS began to reappear in the church, Rose felt a sense of hope and when the Doctor told her he could fix things and that her dad would stay alive, the piece of the Doctor in her mind felt her happiness.

But then she had gone and taken a hold of the baby Rose and the Reaper had gotten in. The Doctor was gone and, while it was strange to watch himself be taken by that thing, it hurt to know how bad Rose felt because of it.

Then to feel her realization that he was gone and that this was all her fault nearly killed him inside. She didn't realize that he would give every single one of his remaining lives to see her safe. He didn't realize it until that moment. She continued to think that this whole mess was her fault, that if the Doctor hadn't indulged her in this. "Be careful what you wish for," he had said. She understood now. She hadn't before but she did now.

Her heartbreak at knowing that her father was right in giving up the life she had saved drove him mad. She had lost the Doctor and now she would lose her dad anyway. She had saved him for nothing. The moment her dad stepped in front of that car the Doctor found his way back. The impact took away the Reapers and brought back everyone else.

When he hadn't seen her in the church, he stepped to the doorway where she stood. She felt his pain for her as he told her to go to him. Meeting his eyes after Peter had died, she felt his pain for her just as he felt her heart tearing apart inside. She wanted to cry but held it back until that night.

* * *

She fell asleep shortly after they had returned to the TARDIS. The stress of the day had worn her out. She had slept only for a couple of hours when she woke up screaming for him. Her Doctor. He hadn't been far away, just in the room next door reading when it started. He had tried to sleep himself but one nightmare had woke him up and he refused to go back to sleep. 

He had run into the room and gathered her into his arms, rocking her gently as he quieted her. "It's alright, Rose. I'm right here. You're safe. You're safe with me on the TARDIS. I'm here." His simple murmurs returned to her to a semi-conscious state. She didn't let go of him though. She was clinging to his jumper and wouldn't let go. It was as if she was scared that she'd lose him again. He had spent several hours just stretched out on her bed holding her. Both of them had finally drifted off to a deep and dreamless sleep that they both needed.

* * *

Waking up in Sam's spare room, they just stared at each other. What in the world had just happened? 

"Did you --?"

"Yeah. What caused it?"

"I think it was the TARDIS," he said. "I don't know why but I think she's trying to tell us something."

"But what?"

"Don't know." She moved to the bed and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't care. Her doctor was back and he was with her again. That was all that mattered. Wasn't it?


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: Nope still not mine. A girl can hope though can't she?

* * *

Sam walked in just a few minutes after her two guests had woken up to see them in each other's arms. She wasn't surprised. She'd had the suspicion that they felt that way about each other since the park at least.

"Are you two okay? Do you need anything before I go to bed?"

The two of them pulled apart and looked over at Sam. The Doctor just smiled. "I'm surprised you haven't asked me about Grace yet."

Sam hung her head. She'd been meaning to ask him about that but was almost afraid to. She hadn't told anyone about the little girl she had seen on board the Prometheus when she'd hit her head. The little girl had said her name was Grace and she'd been smart but with the attention span of a certain general she knew.

"You never told anyone about her did you?" The Doctor swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. He walked over to stand in front of the woman and put his hands on her shoulders. "They would have understood you seeing 'hallucinations' of your friends. But they never would have understood you seeing a little girl that was a perfect blending of yourself and …."

"Don't. Please. She could never be real. I can't be with him. The regulations…"

"Don't matter. You are supposed to marry him. Have his child. Children in fact. Children that are very important to the survival of several different races. Grace is just the first. Well, her and her twin brother. Samantha, the universe needs you two to be together. General Hammond never told you about the special dispensation he had gotten for the personnel at the SGC did he?"

When Sam looked up at the Doctor in shock, Rose picked up the tale, seemingly pulling it from nowhere. The Doctor guessed that she was getting it straight from the TARDIS. 'How in the world is she doing that? Even I have a hard time getting information directly from the old girl.' The distant look on her face was almost a confirmation that Rose had somehow directly accessed the databanks on the TARDIS.

"General Hammond noticed the sparks between you and Colonel O'Neill at your first meeting and the sparks grew. He knew that you were both, in his words, 'too damn noble to sacrifice the good you might do for the planet just to satisfy certain wants and desires.'  
He apparently knew the two of you too well. He had told the President about the life and death situations at the base and asked that certain regulations be suspended under certain terms. He didn't name names but the President knew anyway who, in particular, the general meant. Apparently, the disc that you had recorded for O'Neill with no intentions of sending it, got to him when he was quarantined on that planet with the nanobots. Someone else knew how you felt about him and knew that the feeling was returned by him."

"Daniel, Teal'c, Janet. Probably others too." Sam admitted, saddened by the thought of the petite doctor who had seen straight through the mask she had tried to wear when it came to O'Neill.

Janet was gone now and she didn't have Cassie nearby to play confidant for her. She hadn't been able to tell Daniel and Teal'c. She just didn't feel comfortable with telling them flat out that she had considered quitting the SGC numerous times just so that she could have the man she really wanted.

"I too have loved where maybe I shouldn't have," Rose admitted, losing the distant look on her face. She looked right at the Doctor. "In fact, according to all the rules I shouldn't even be with him now."

Tears filled the Doctor's eyes as he realized that the TARDIS had told Rose about the rules governing the Time Lords and the fact that the others would have long since taken her from him. 'Old friend, why did you tell her about that? She never should have known.'

'She had to know. She is as important to you as Jack O'Neill is to Samantha Carter.'

Rose found herself stepping to the Doctor's side and placing a hand on his arm where it still rested on Sam's shoulder. "Don't be upset with her, Doctor. She was only answering my questions. It was something I needed to know."

"No Rose. I'm the last. The race dies with me."

"Not according to some legends. There are ones that state that the Time Lords will be again. That they will arise from the love of two people who saved each other from reckless abandon."

"The Time Lords are no more. I can't have children with anyone else." He hated telling her that but she needed to know.

"Have you ever tried? Have you thought about why I would be able to access the TARDIS so directly since the incident on the game station?"

He realized the implications of what she was saying. "You can't."

"The access to the vortex has changed me, Doctor. Maybe not totally yet but the TARDIS told me that the only way to save me from the damage done to my body by accessing the vortex and accepting it into my mind was to begin a transformation." Rose chuckled nervously. "She tells me that the worst is yet to come. That my body has to undergo some very painful adjustments in the next few days. I'll need you close by."

"I might be able to help with that. We can take you to the mountain and let you stay there while you go through the changes. Doing it there would also mean that there would be medical staff nearby in case of an emergency."

"You would do that for two strangers?" Rose was amazed. The Doctor took her hand.

"Thank you, Samantha. Of course, now that you know about the dispensation, what's stopping you from going after the man you've wanted for so long?"

"I've waited this long. I can wait a little longer to help you help Rose through this. It sounds like you'll need all the help you can get."

The Doctor put an arm around Rose's shoulders. "Maybe we should get there soon." He had noticed the pallor that had settled over the young woman. She was feeling twinges. He wasn't sure of what was going to happen. He had never known anyone to be transformed into a Time Lord before.

Suddenly, Rose doubled over holding her abdomen. "Doctor!" He caught her as she fell. He sat there brushing the hair out of her eyes, her head in his lap. Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't do anything to help her.

As the pain subsided, Rose looked up at her Doctor. "It's worth it. And you help just by being beside me, holding me."

Sam and the Doctor carried Rose out to Sam's car and Sam drove to the mountain quickly. She guessed that the rest of the transformation would probably be just as painful if not worse.

She had no idea.


End file.
